My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. 

                                                                                                                        1 John 2:1-2 

We all need an advocate, someone who will be there for us in the midst of the most difficult circumstances. An advocate is someone who has our best interest at heart. An advocate cares about our wellbeing. An advocate acts as our supporter, backer, and proponent. Of course it is best for us to avoid sin in our lives. Avoiding sin and living according to God’s standard promotes blessing and spiritual health as well as guards us against harm and the accusations of the enemy. But as Christians, when we do find ourselves falling short of God’s best for our lives, we can be assured that we have an Advocate who intercedes on our behalf and His name is Jesus Christ. This is what Paul is teaching us in the following passage:

For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.                                                

                                                                                                       1 Timothy 2:5-6 

To understand Jesus as Advocate, it is vitally important for us to recognize what Jesus has accomplished on the cross on our behalf. Jesus came into the world to save us. The very name Jesus means “God saves.” The cross is the place in which the love of God and the justice of God intersect. Without the cross, we would still be dead in our sin without any hope of approaching God or entering His kingdom when we depart from this life. The sin of Adam brought upon all mankind condemnation. But because of God’s love for His creation, he sent Jesus to become the propitiation for our sin.

Propitiation can be defined as an appeasing. It is to satisfy the demands of a wrongdoing. It is the act of making amends for a wrong or injury. Propitiation can be translated “atoning sacrifice.” When Jesus became our propitiation, He effectively fulfilled the demands of the Law, reconciling mankind to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:18-19). When we place our trust in Christ, receiving His offer of salvation by faith, we become counted among those who pass from spiritual death to spiritual life. And this offer of salvation, redemption, and forgiveness is solely on the basis of Christ’s sacrifice and is available to everyone who will believe (John 3:16).

John informs us that Jesus became the propitiation for the sins of the whole world. This is a significant statement. Whole is to imply completeness and entirety. World comes from the word kosmos and can be defined as “the entire created order” including “the whole mass of mankind alienated from God.” This means that the propitiation of Jesus covers the sins of all mankind. But we must receive this appeasing of God’s justice by placing our faith in the completed work of Christ on the cross. This is vital since it is impossible for God to overlook injustice and it is the sacrifice of Christ and Christ alone that has the saving power to declare sinful mankind redeemed, restored, and reconciled to God. We see this same language used by Jesus Himself:

For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

                                                                                                                        John 3:17  

Paul also speaks of God’s response to the sin of mankind:

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men.                                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                 Romans 5:18 

Just as the one transgression of Adam resulted in condemnation to all mankind, the one act of righteousness (Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross) brings justification of life to all mankind.   

So because Jesus has satisfied all of the demands of the Law for us who believe, we no longer have to worry about our standing with God. We can approach the throne of God with boldness and confidence (Hebrews 4:16). We can be confident before God because our adequacy to be in relationship with Him is based on Jesus’ performance and not ours. Consider the words of Paul:

Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

                                                                                                           2 Corinthians 3:4-6 

The propitiation of Jesus makes us adequate and it is all based on the love and grace of God received by faith. The new covenant established by God through Jesus is now based on faith and not by works. As believers, we live knowing that we have spiritual life and life that is eternal. And when we do sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Savior!